This invention relates to unbuilt nonionic-based detergent compositions to be used in the laundering of fabrics containing an antistatic amount of isostearic acid and a minor amount of a specified cationic polymer; and the method of imparting antistatic properties to fabrics laundered with said composition.
The use of various and diverse chemical materials and particularly cationic quaternary ammonium compounds as softeners and antistatic agents for textile products is very well known in the art. It is also well known to employ such materials for their antistatic and softening effects during the laundering operation and particularly in the rinse cycle of the laundering process. This latter technique has been necessitated by the fact that the aforesaid quaternary compounds heretofore employed, being mainly cationic in nature, were not compatible with the anionic detergents, one of the major types of detergents used in the washing cycle. Furthermore, cationic quaternary compounds are relatively ineffective in the presence of nonionic detergents.
It is also well known that there is a tendency for laundered articles to yellow or discolor when treated with aforesaid quaternary compounds.
Another disadvantage associated with the use of said cationic agents in the laundering of fabrics therewith is its interference with the deposition on the fabrics of optical brightener, thereby reducing optical brightener performance of a detergent composition containing said optical brightener.
Still another disadvantage of the cationic quaternary ammonium antistatic softener is its interference with the cleaning properties of the detergent by reducing the soil removal effected by the detergent, resulting in decreased washing effectiveness. The presence of the anionic detergent material substantially negates the fabric softening properties of the cationic quaternary ammonium compounds as well as counteracts the antistatic activity possessed by said quaternary compounds.
The use of water soluble cationic polymers as conditioning agents in hair treating compositions, which may optionally contain anionic, cationic, nonionic and/or amphoteric surfactants, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,008 and British Pat. No. 1,347,051.
Isostearic acid has been used in an oil/water skin cream composition as a dispersing agent in said oil phase, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,555; as one component in a four component emulsifying or solubilizing composition, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,403; and as a conditioning agent in conjunction with a surfactant in shampoo compositions, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,122.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,905 discloses a cleansing and softening composition for fabrics comprising a noncationic surfactant and an alkali metal isostearate salt as the softening agent.
However, none of the prior art discloses an antistatic composition containing isostearic acid as the antistatic agent in a nonionic detergent composition containing a specific cationic polymer flocculent, to be used in the laundering of fabrics.